MOTORSPORT: New Commodores – and Chevies – set early pace

Two Nissan Altimas and three AMG Mercedes E63s joined the Holdens and Fords in the V8 Supercar pre-season test, but it was the VF Commodores out front, while in the US Danica Patrick has made history with a similar Holden running as a Chevy SS

Rumblings over AMG engines, GC600 to axe international co-drivers

These are still very early days in the new year – and a couple of new and different eras – of motorsport, but it’s been a very good start for Holden and, on a broader scale, General Motors.

The V8 Supercar test day at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMP) may not have meant much in terms of the competitiveness among the four makes now competing by the time the championship starts in Adelaide on the first weekend of March, but Saturday was Holden’s day with the new VF Commodore.

Across the Tasman veteran Greg Murphy scored a clean sweep in the three races at the opening round of the second season of New Zealand’s V8 SuperTourer series in a VE2 Commodore.

And in the US there was more glory for GM as Danica Patrick claimed pole position for next weekend’s Daytona 500 – the first time a woman has been the top qualifier in the 2354-race history of NASCAR’s premier Cup series, and she did it in the Chevy SS that we know as the VF Commodore.

Meanwhile, there were indications during the weekend of another blow to the internationalisation of V8 Supercars. After Abu Dhabi dropped off this year’s championship calendar and the carnage on the streets of Surfers Paradise last October, the international co-drivers that have been part of the Gold Coast 600 in recent years are set to be dropped.

Confirmation of that is expected soon, but somehow organisers will have to appease a Queensland government whose funding of the event – in the last year of its contract – has depended on some international flavour to the carnival that for almost two decades was the Indy.

Eight of the 10 fastest ‘Cars of the Future’ in Saturday morning’s testing at SMP (what was Eastern Creek) were VF Commodores, 11 of the best 13, and 14 of the top 18 – of 25 on track. In the afternoon seven of the fastest 10 cars were Holdens, 10 of the top 13, and 13 of the top 18 – again with 25 on track.

Brad Jones Racing pair Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard were first and second in both sessions.

Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney was third in the morning, but in the afternoon that spot was filled by Craig Lowndes for Triple Eight – with teammate Jamie Whincup in seventh by the end of the day after languishing 18th in the morning.

Triple Eight-built Commodores generally were quick, including those driven by Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport pair Dean Fiore and rookie Scott Pye (fourth and sixth at the end of the day), while the BJR frontrunners had the advantage of T8 front-ends.

Despite doubts about whether newcomer Nissan will have the horsepower to be competitive in the series immediately, Rick Kelly was fourth fastest in the morning and fifth in the afternoon – 0.65 seconds slower than Bright – in one of only two of his team’s four Altimas taken to the track.

The AMG Mercedes E63s were only 19th, 20th and 24th in the morning, while in the afternoon they were 14th, 19th and 24 – with Euro recruit Maro Engel quickest of the trio for the day, ahead of Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth.

Although the Mercs were not in the top half of either timesheet, expect rumblings in the lead-up to Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 over the flat-plane crankshafts they are running as well as some other systems.

The sole Dick Johnson Racing Falcon that made it to Sydney, driven by new signing Tim Blanchard, was last on both timesheets – more than 4.75 seconds off the best times in each session.

Ford Performance Racing’s two top guns were only midfield in the morning – Will Davison 14th and Mark Winterbottom 15th – while in the afternoon David Reynolds and Winterbottom broke into the top 10, recording the eighth and ninth best times.

Davison was only 16th in the afternoon, while his older brother Alex, returning to the series full-time this year in a fourth FPR Falcon, was only 22nd and 21st in the two sessions.

The HRT Commodores of Courtney and Garth Tander were outside the top 10 at the end of the day – 11th and 18th respectively – but did not run on soft tyres.

James Moffat drove the second Nissan but, while 10th in the morning, went no faster in the afternoon.

Todd Kelly, who has headed the engineering at Nissan Motorsport (formerly Kelly Brothers), said the team would shake down its other two Altimas he and Michael Caruso will race at Victoria’s Winton circuit this week.

“I think we’ll be in pretty good shape when we head to Adelaide,” Kelly said.

“We still have a lot of work to do on the engine side refining our package, but the way the car is handling (especially Rick Kelly’s in Sydney) has probably masked that and almost overcome it.”

Super start for Murphy in NZ series

While Greg Murphy dominated the NZ V8 SuperTourer opening round at Hampton Downs there were equal numbers of Holdens and Fords among the top eight cars at the end of the round.

Without a full-time V8 Supercar drive any longer, Murphy made a lightning start to the series, winning all three races and avoiding oil on the racing line around much of the circuit in the final race.

Shane Van Gisbergen, 12th in V8 Supercar testing in Sydney with his new Holden team Tekno Autosports on Saturday, finished second in the final race at Hampton Downs in a Falcon to end the round fourth overall.

John McIntyre was third in that feature race, a couple of seconds ahead of Craig Baird, both of them in Falcons, while Ant Pedersen and Richard Moore – in a Ford and Holden respectively – wound up second and third for the weekend.

Scott McLaughlin, the Kiwi teenager now driving in V8 Supercars for Garry Rogers Motorsport and who outpaced French teammate Alex Premat in both Sydney sessions, caught up in a huge first-corner incident at Hampton Downs that eliminated six cars. McLaughlin’s Commodore was only just repaired in time for the final race and then lasted only eight laps.

All eyes on Danica and Chevy SS at Daytona

All the attention in American motorsport at the minute is on Danica Patrick’s historic Daytona 500 pole position, but five of the six fastest cars in qualifying at the famous superspeedway at the weekend were Chevy SSs – all with Hendrick Motorsports engines.

Australian Marcos Ambrose was only midfield (24th) in his Ford Fusion during qualifying but could yet start the 500 further up if he finishes well in the second of the two 150-mile (240km) duels on Friday morning, Australian time, that will determine most of the rest of the line-up.

Kevin Harvick gave the Chevy SS its debut race win in the Sprint Unlimited exhibition that was previously known as the Bud Shootout at the start of the week of Daytona activity.

Ambrose had been among the leaders but finished 11th after Tony Stewart’s Chevy cut across his nose.

Danica Patrick averaged 196.434mph (316.11kmh) on her pole lap on the 2.5-mile (4km) oval. She has driven only 10 Sprint Cup races and her best finish has been 17th.

The previous best start by a woman in the Daytona 500 was Janet Guthrie in 18th in 1980. She finished 11th. Guthrie also has the distinction of the highest start by a woman in any Cup race, ninth at Talladega and Bristol in 1977.

Patrick admitted the pole was “maybe 10 per cent” down to her driving and “really 90 per cent on Tony (Gibson, her Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief) and his guys” for the way they set up her Chevy.

Nonetheless her achievement has brought huge media attention to NASCAR. Patrick, 30, started the second-tier Nationwide race at Daytona on pole a year ago, but a bumper audience is assured when she leads the field to the green flag in the 55th running of stock car racing’s biggest race next Monday morning, Australian time.

“I was brought up to be the fastest driver, not the fastest girl,” she said. “We have a lot more history to make.”

Alongside her on the front row, and the only other driver whose starting position is guaranteed yet, is Jeff Gordon in a Hendrick-entered Chevy.

“This is great for the sport … I’m proud to be on the front row side-by-side with Danica,” Gordon said.

Patrick’s Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart were fourth and fifth fastest in qualifying but won’t know their starting positions until after Friday’s duels.

Trevor Bayne, the shock 2011 Daytona 500 winner for Wood Brothers, was third in the best of the Fords, while Casey Kahne was sixth in another Chevy.

This year’s “Generation 6” NASCARs are styled, especially at the front, to make them more identifiable with the road versions, although the Chevy SS won’t go on sale to the public in the US until November – following the VF Commodore here mid-year.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said stock cars resembling showroom models more closely was largely a result of manufacturer chiefs – especially GM’s Mark Reuss, formerly head of Holden – “backing us into a corner”.

“Chevrolet said, ‘Here’s what you guys need to think about doing’, causing us maybe to react a little bit ahead of our own schedules,” Helton said. “But it worked – and it worked well.”

Powerhouse team owner Rick Hendrick said: “I think Mark Reuss said that if we can’t be relevant we (GM) don’t race. So we had a lot riding on that. I think that’s when everybody started talking, and [so too other participating manufacturers] Ford and Toyota.

“But Mark pushed the button with NASCAR, and I’m glad he did. It’s sure paid off.”

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MOTORSPORT: New Commodores – and Chevies – set early pace

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